Alain Le Ray (3 October 1910 – 4 June 2007) was a French general and

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

leader. Le Ray, a keen alpinist, was a lieutenant in the French mountain infantry when wounded and captured by the Germans in June 1940. After a first escape attempt from a prison camp in occupied Poland, he was transferred to

Oflag IV-C Oflag IV-C, often referred to by its location at Colditz Castle, overlooking Colditz, Saxony, was one of the most noted German Army prisoner-of-war camps for captured enemy officers during World War II; ''Oflag'' is a shortening of ''Offiziersla ...

. In April 1941, he became the first prisoner ever to escape from the

Colditz Castle Castle Colditz (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the r ...

. Le Ray returned to France, where he held a position in Vichy Army and was posted at the Uriage Leader's School, under

Pierre Dunoyer de Segonzac Pierre Dunoyer de Segonzac (10 March 1906, Toulon – 13 March 1968) was a French Resistance and Brigade General. Biography Pierre Dominique Dunoyer de Segonzac was born on March 10, 1908, in Toulon. He is the son of Charles Dunoyer de Segonzac, ...

, a pro- Pétain but anti-German officer. Along with Dunoyer de Segonzac, Le Ray chose Resistance in January 1943. He assumed military command of the

maquis du Vercors The Battle of Vercors in July and August 1944 was between a rural group of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) maquis''] and the armed forces of Nazi Germany which had occupied France since 1940 in the Second World War. The maquis used the pro ...

in February 1943. Le Ray left the Vercors in January 1944 and become the

Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur The French Forces of the Interior (french: Forces françaises de l'Intérieur) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation ...

local commanding officer. In this position, he freed

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

and fought the still German-occupied alpine forts in 1945.Th. Wieder, " Alain Le Ray, chef militaire du maquis du Vercors", ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', June 9, 2007. After the war, Le Ray held senior command in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

and

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and retired in 1970 as a

Corps General An army corps general or corps general is a rank held by a General officer who commands an army corps. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. Normally, the rank is above the divisional ge ...

Publications

* Alain Le Ray, ''Première à Colditz'', Presses Universitaires de Grenoble 2004,

References

French Resistance members French generals French mountain climbers Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Military personnel from Paris Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Prisoners of war held at Colditz Castle 1910 births 2007 deaths {{France-mil-bio-stub